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Subchannel photonic routing, switching and protection with simplified upgrades of WDM optical networks

  • US 9,485,050 B2
  • Filed: 12/06/2010
  • Issued: 11/01/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An optical subchannel muxponder that can transmit optical signals among a plurality of nodes interconnected by one or more fiber optic cables to form an optical network, the optical subchannel muxponder comprising:

  • (a) a subchannel mapper that can map each of a plurality of client signals to a corresponding subchannel within or across a plurality of ITU channels, wherein each ITU channel in the plurality of ITU channels has a predefined ITU frequency and a corresponding plurality of subchannels, and wherein each subchannel has an associated frequency with a predetermined offset from the predefined ITU frequency of the subchannel'"'"'s corresponding ITU channel;

    (b) one or more lasers that can be tuned to generate modulated client signals at frequencies associated with each subchannel;

    (c) a multiplexer that can combine the modulated client signals for transmission onto the fiber optic cables of the optical network; and

    (d) either (i) a client signal multiplexer that can combine a plurality of client signals into a single higher-rate signal that can be mapped to a distinct subchannel, or (ii) a client signal inverse multiplexer that can divide a client signal having a data rate into a plurality of signals including a first signal that can be mapped to a subchannel of a first ITU channel, and a second signal that can be mapped to a subchannel of a second ITU channel different from the first ITU channel.

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